Muffled: How Arsenal’s sharp defender silenced Belgium’s most feared forward

Romelu Lukaku is one of the most intimidating strikers in the Premier League. When he is at his best, he is nigh impossible to stop. Eight goals in 11 league appearances to date is a testament to his ability. The term has become an all-too-prevalent cliche, but he really can be “unplayable”.

Not for Laurent Koscielny.

During Sunday’s thrilling clash between Arsenal and Everton, Koscielny was at his very best to keep Lukaku relatively quiet.

On paper, it’s not a battle you’d necessarily expect Koscielny to win. Lukaku is certainly the stronger of the two players. However, Koscielny showed that strength is no match for speed and agility – including that of the mind.

Koscielny did win both of his attempted tackles during the game, showing that the timing and precision of his challenges was outstanding.

However, he also shackled Lukaku’ usually threatening aerial game. The Belgian won only three of seven attempted headers.

Even when Koscielny could not win the header outright, he marked Lukaku so tightly that the striker stood little chance of making a suitable flick-on.

However, the real secret of the Frenchman’s success is shown by his impressive tally of eight interceptions.

Koscielny demonstrated his excellent reading of the game to repeatedly nip ahead of the Everton forward and win the ball. It’s worth noting that the France international is also extremely quick over the ground: in a pure foot-race between Lukaku and Koscielny, there is only ever likely one winner.

Lukaku’s frustration on the night is shown by his Heat Map:

Lukaku ordinarily operates on the fringes of the penalty area. However, in order to try and impose him on the game and escape Koscielny’s clutches, he was forced to drop far deeper than he is used to, negating his threat.

Next week, Arsenal and Koscielny will face one of the Premier League’s most dangerous strike-duos in Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo. The Gunners number six will need to be at his very best once again to keep City at bay.